Metal Slug 3 is the newest in a line of strictly 2D side-scrolling, old school shmups (that's shoot-'em-ups). Running into battle, you're alone against an army of beautifully-themed monsters, vehicles and spectacular bosses that come at you with comic zeal in what is one of the most hectic videogame experiences of the year.

With only five levels, difficulty is provided by the hordes that descend on you, including members of the undead, a robotic tank and giant moray eels. Honed, often hilarious and featuring innumerable touches of genius, at £20 this is superb value for anyone with the cahones to take on such a brutal challenge.

· SNK Playmore, £20

Mobile gaming

As a species, humans are becoming increasingly intolerant of time spent without customised personal entertainment. The horror scenario of getting stuck on public transport with a flat iPod battery, no Game Boy and a newspaper you've just finished reading is enough to instil fear in the stoutest heart. Fortunately, mobile phone games are here to provide protection from exposure to brief moments of quiet contemplation.

3D Pool

Forget the j-j-jerky animation and simplistic-looking table; if it's a very small game of pool you're looking for, this plays a damn fine one. Cushion shots, spin and power are all taken care of with its consistent physics and neatly simple interface. Hustling has never been so compact.

Galleon Dusk

After the flawed but inventive console release from the man who brought you Tomb Raider, the pared-down mobile version suffers from desperately glitchy graphics and a difficulty level almost entirely derived from the cack-handedness of its controls. A hopeless mess.

Colin McRae Rally 2005

Real-time car damage, varying weather conditions and two-player mode (albeit turn-based rather than via Bluetooth) are all features that have made it into the mobile edition. Clever automatic acceleration and perceptibly different handling on various road surfaces make up for out-of-step sound effects.

Platoon

Play as your favourite characters from 1980s Vietnam-a-thon Platoon, from bad Sgt Barnes to nice but doomed Elias, then wrestle with the laborious controls and absurd collision detection, in which you fire anywhere in the vicinity of an enemy and watch them jerkily teleport into the supine position.

Gauntlet

Run around shooting ghosts, trolls and other nasties while picking up treasure and hunks of meat, handily strewn around corridors. It looks and plays like a slightly easier-to-control ZX Spectrum game, which is in every way a good thing. Sadly, there's no four-player mode.

Big Boss Bash

Bouncing bubbles off obstacles to hit political figures, from our own revered leader to Bush and Saddam, produces a peculiar mix of action-based puzzle game and schoolyard satire. A very playable and addictive result from the talents at developer Mobobo.